Fresh from booking their spot in the last-16 stage of the Europa League, Sevilla will resume their La Liga campaign with a home match against Osasuna on Sunday night.
A disappointing campaign has left Sevilla down in 12th position in the table on 25 points, while Osasuna have picked up 30 points from their 22 games to occupy 10th spot heading into the next set of matches.
Match preview
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Sevilla survived a scare to advance in the Europa League on Thursday, with the La Liga outfit managing to progress to the round of 16 despite losing 2-0 in the Netherlands to PSV Eindhoven.
Last week's 3-0 victory in the first leg of their knockout round playoff proved enough to advance, with Jorge Sampaoli's side set to take on Turkish giants Fenerbahce in the next round, and the Europa League is the team's only genuine chance of securing a spot in next season's Champions League.
Indeed, Los Nervionenses have only picked up 25 points from their 22 league games this season, which has left them in 12th, some 16 points off the top four, while they are also nine points from sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano.
The fact that Sevilla are just three points clear of the relegation zone, which they have occupied this season, is an indication of their troubles, and after three straight fourth-place finishes in La Liga, the team are currently looking over their shoulder at a vital stage of the season.
Sampaoli's team do appear to have turned a corner in recent weeks, though, losing just one of their last five in the league, recording three wins in the process.
Last weekend, the 1945-46 La Liga champions played out a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano, with Florian Lejeune cancelling out an opener from Suso, as the points were shared in the Spanish capital.
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Osasuna are also fighting on two fronts this season, with the team still in the Copa del Rey, and the first leg of their semi-final against Athletic Bilbao will take place next Wednesday.
Jagoba Arrasate's side have finished 10th, 11th and 10th since returning to Spain's top flight in 2019, and they are currently in 10th spot in the table, boasting 30 points from their 22 matches.
Los Rojillos are eight points clear of the relegation zone and just four points off the top six, so they should be looking up the division at this stage of the campaign rather than down.
Osasuna have not been victorious in the league since the middle of January, though, drawing three and losing two of their last five games in Spain's top flight, including a 2-0 home loss to Real Madrid last weekend.
The Pamplona outfit have only won two of their 11 away league games this season, but they have suffered just three defeats, while Sevilla have picked up only 15 points from their 11 matches at Estadio Ramon.
Team News
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Sevilla will be without the services of five first-team players for this weekend's contest, with Papu Gomez, Marcao, Jesus Manuel Corona, Karim Rekik and Loic Bade on the sidelines through injury.
The hosts should again have Youssef En-Nesyri at the tip of their attack, with Bryan Gil, Oliver Torres and Erik Lamela likely to feature in support of the centre-forward.
Sevilla played a back three against PSV on Thursday, but Sampaoli is expected to shift to a four for this contest, with Gonzalo Montiel potentially coming in at right-back, which would see Alex Telles drop to the bench.
As for Osasuna, Nacho Vidal and Ruben Pena will miss the contest through injury, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into the fixture.
Juan Cruz and Ezequiel Avila were both suspended against Real Madrid last time out, but the pair are back for this match and should return to the XI.
Ante Budimir is again set to lead the line, while Jon Moncayola could be moved forward into a midfield position, having started at right-back against the reigning champions.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Montiel, Fernando, Nianzou, Acuna; Jordan, Rakitic; Gil, Torres, Lamela; En-Nesyri
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Moreno, U Garcia, D Garcia, Cruz; Moncayola, Gomez, Torro, Brasanac, Avila; Budimir
We say: Sevilla 1-1 Osasuna
Osasuna will certainly be the fresher of the two teams heading into this match, but Sevilla have been much-improved in the league in recent weeks, winning their last four top-flight fixtures at home. Osasuna have been the draw specialists away from home this term, though, and we are backing a low-scoring draw here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
